What Cardiff City actually got for the £30million they spent to stay in the Premier League

By Tom Prosser

Thursday 16th May 2019

Bobby Reid and Josh Murphy arrived at Cardiff City last summer

Transfer business is always difficult for newly-promoted teams.

Do you splash the cash or do you add sensibly to the team that got you promoted?

Cardiff City clearly opted for the latter.

The Bluebirds' transfer business last season has been much debated, with Cardiff spending just over £30million on five players all from the Championship.

The only top-flight players Cardiff signed were all on season-long loans.

Harry Arter joined from then fellow Premier League club Bournemouth, Victor Camarasa signed from La Liga side Real Betis and Oumar Niasse arrived from Everton in January.

Here we take a look at how Neil Warnock’s Premier League signings fared and whether or not they have got value for money from these deals...

Josh Murphy - £11million

Murphy has shown flashes of real promise in the top flight this season but has struggled with consistency.

The 24-year-old started 22 matches as well as making seven appearances from the bench, but if he is to stay next season, he’ll be wanting guarantees of starting a lot more matches.

In what was arguably the most important game of the season away to Fulham a couple of weeks ago, Murphy was left completely out of the matchday squad because he "hasn’t been training well" according to Warnock.

He has scored three goals this season including a sublime finish in the home victory over Fulham where he cut in from the left and slotted calmly into the bottom corner.

His potential is really high and if he can add more of an end product to his game alongside is exciting skilful runs then he could be the real deal.

Bobby Reid - £10million

Reid is in a similar position to Murphy; he has only started 16 matches, largely being in the shadow of Camarasa, but with the Spaniard's loan spell finishing this summer then Cardiff have a ready made replacement in Reid.

He made a further 11 appearances from the bench, but most of those were only for the dying minutes of matches like in the recent crucial defeat to the Cottagers where he would have been hoping for more time to have made an impact.

The 26-year-old has scored five goals this season including a brace in the home win against Bournemouth where he put in a man-of-the- match display. He also netted a classy 90th-minute strike in the recent 3-2 defeat against Crystal Palace.

The former Bristol City star has shown his ability to look really busy in the opposition's penalty area and if not scoring he often creates chances for others with some intelligent passes.

He excelled for the Robins during the 2017/18 Championship campaign, scoring 21 goals in the league and if he had played more under Warnock this season he would have likely scored more than the five goals to his name.

Cardiff having Reid to their disposal in the Championship is an exciting prospect and it could be only a matter of time before the bluebirds get their value for money from Reid.

Greg Cunningham - £4million

The left-back has hardly featured since joining from Preston and has been limited to just seven league appearances, and one match in the Carabao Cup.

This is largely down to Warnock staying loyal to Joe Bennett, who is generally one of the most consistent members of the squad.

Cunningham’s lack of game-time may also be down to Warnock not viewing him as the type of player to bring on off the substitutes' bench, as he left him out of the matchday squad on 11 occasions. He has regularly been Cardiff’s travelling reserve this season.

He was a steady performer for Preston in the Championship and would have been a more than able deputy for Bennett if he had a long injury lay-off at any point in the season, so there is some logic behind this signing.

It remains to be seen if the 28-year-old has a future with the Bluebirds; he may be unlikely to stay if he is not guaranteed game-time in the second tier.

Leandro Bacuna- £3million

The versatile Bacuna joined the Bluebirds on deadline day in January from Reading.

He fits the bill as a Warnock-type player, as he can play right-back or in midfield and could be seen as a replacement for Greg Halford in this respect.

With the likes of Arter, Joe Ralls, Camarasa and Callum Paterson being out injured towards the end of the season, Bacuna played a decent number of times, making 11 appearances in total.

He is on a long-term deal and will be useful squad player for Cardiff next season in the Championship.

Alex Smithies - £3million

The former QPR and Huddersfield shot-stopper was signed to try to challenge Neil Etheridge for the No.1 jersey, but Etheridge has had a standout season and Smithies has not made a single league appearance for Cardiff as of yet.

With Brian Murphy being Cardiff’s only other goalkeeper, this was always going to be a position that Warnock would look to strengthen.

Although it did not materialise, there was also a chance that Etheridge could have been called up to the Philippines squad for the Asia Cup so Smithies could have been signed with that in mind.

If Etheridge does leave Cardiff this summer then Smithies could become first choice, but if the situation does not change it would not be surprising to see Smithies leave Cardiff after only a year at the club.

Harry Arter - loan

Arter was the only Premier League player who Cardiff signed last season and for them to sign a player of his experience looked to be a real shrewd acquisition.

He played 25 times in total and always ran his socks off with his high-tempo style of play.

The 29-year-old did not score but did come close from distance on several occasions.

The Irish international never shirked out of a tackle and was willing to take a booking for the team.

Victor Camarasa - loan

Not many Cardiff fans would have heard of Camarasa before he moved to South Wales, but he has clearly added a lot of quality to the starting XI.

He played 33 times in total for the Bluebirds, scoring five, including a stunner in the away win against Leicester.

The 24-year-old was a real find and it would not be surprising to see him remain in the Premier League next season.

Oumar Niasse - loan

It was a tale of two halves for Niasse at Cardiff since joining from Everton in January.

He started off like a breath of fresh air; he added a new dimension to their game with his chasing down of long balls and offered powerful running, but he lacked an end product.

Niasse played 13 times in total and failed to score, missing a hat-full of chances.

As time went on, he ran out of steam and looked like like his failure to score had effected his confidence. He did not feature in the matchday squad for the Bluebirds' last two games of the season.

Conclusion

Cardiff are yet to see value for money from this season's signings.

With over £20million spent on Murphy and Reid, for them to only make only 38 starts between them is slightly under-whelming, considering they were Cardiff’s marquee signings.

Both players, however, should be exciting to watch in the Championship next season and Cardiff could yet get value for money from them.

Cunningham and Smithies were signed to add depth to the squad, but both failed to make an impact.

Overall, Cardiff’s lack of signings from Premier League clubs may be down to cost and this may have ultimately played a part in their relegation.

Who is online

The views and comments entered in these forums are personal and are not necessarily those of the management of this board.The management of this board is not responsible for the content of any external internet sites.